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It's crunch time for Oaklands Wolves as they look to move towards a British League play-off spot when they host Essex Rebels on Saturday, 6pm.
Wolves are expecting a capacity crowd as they reduced to tickets to £1 each, and can be booked here Oaklands College Wolves vs Essex Rebels - Lokkaroom - Tickets
Following Saturday's 71-67 loss at Newcastle Eagles, Lee Ryan's team need to beat fifth placed Rebels to keep up their hopes of a place in the post-season.
Rebels, who will include former Oaklands forward Tia Freeman in their team are fifth in the WBBL table with nine wins from 17 games and need one more victory from their final three games to seal a top five spot.
Katherine Tudor leads the Colchester-based side with 17.4 points per game while Darcy Kay Rees averages a 13.6 point, 12.9 rebound double-double. When the sides met at Essex Arena in November an 18-point, ten rebound Shaq Wade double wasn't enough to prevent Wolves losing 92-77.
A poor fourth period proved costly as Wolves went down to a narrow loss at Newcastle on Saturday evening, with the visitors being outscored 21-11 in the final frame. Wolves led by as many as 11 four minutes into the second half, but another 20-point haul from Ri Thompson couldn't prevent a loss against one of their rivals for a place in the play-offs.
The hosts led by six midway through the first period but Allison Day got Ryan's team moving and three-pointers from Claire Abbott and Beth Sarson saw them take a 24-18 lead into the first break.
Wolves never trailed in the second frame with day and Thompson doing most of their scoring, and it was the latter who hit a jump shot to give them a 39-34 lead going into the locker room at half-time.
Wade opened the second half scoring, and a pair of Day jump shots saw Wolves' lead peak at 45-34 with 90 seconds to go, and although the hosts kept in touch, Thompson's and-one saw Oaklands lead 56-50 at the final break.
Day extended the advantage with the first score of the fourth period but Wolves' offence dried up as they went four minutes without the scoreboard moving allowing Eagles to reel off eight straight points and tie the game.
Day restored the lead before Sarson hit another trip to put Wolves 65-60 up with three minutes remaining Thompson made it a seven-point game with 2:23 on the clock. But that was the final time Wolves would score as Abi Lowe's triple launched an 11-0 run which gave Eagles the win.
Thompson narrowly missed out on a double-double with nine rebounds, while Day had 16 points and eight boards before fouling out. Sarson finished with 11 points while Amy West had 12 rebounds to go with her four points.
